The Devil in the White City by E. Larson

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

This book is chalk full of interesting informational tidbits about a variety of things that intersect with the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and falls into my Meal for the Mind category.  Journalistic in style, with just the right touch of narrative aspects; gives the feeling of reading news reporting of days gone by.   Larson did his research, and like any good research writer included the documentation of the factual aspects of this book.   Absolutely fascinating and would highly recommend this read for anyone into historical detail, true crime, or architectural development of the U.S.

Larson brilliantly intertwines two stories of the time period.  One is the quest of Chicago to create a World's Fair that would top the Paris Exposition.  This tale is full of architectural detail about not only the creation of the elegant buildings that became known as the "White City"; but also the political strife, games, and complications of committees and overseers.  The book explores the influences and lives of the architects who brought a far reaching vision to reality.  This alone was fascinating and informative, but the other tale of H.H. Holmes takes the book to another level.   

At the same time that all the politics and creation of the World's Fair is going on, H.H. Holmes (an alias) is committing a host of atrocities just a few blocks away.  For some the reading of these crimes may be horrifying and hard to believe; however, what really gets you is the same question that arises when similar situations occur today... "How did they escape detection for so long?  How did they get away with these heinous acts?" For that, there is never an easy answer.  

This book illuminates so many fascinating aspects of this time period.  In many ways, time sweeps away the realities of the past leaving only the gleaming triumphs or epic failures that changed the world as we know it.  However, in reading Larson's wonderfully crafted account of this strikingly dark time period, the picture becomes a bit more clear.  Though the mediums of how we discover, report, ans spread information has changed vastly; the information itself has not changed all that much. Money, power, fame have always been motivational tools for the human psyche.  The question is whether those motivations are used to create something that fascinated thousands of people with its beauty and majesty; leaving lasting impressions and influences for years.  Or, those motivations are used to commit acts that are so vile and base that the knowledge of them is seared into ones memory.   These are the diametrically opposed tales that Larson weaves together with skill and style.

• Lexile Measure: 1170L 
• Paperback: 447 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (February 10, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375725601
• ISBN-13: 978-0375725609